Went a little long with this chapter too, but I wanted to get some stuff rolling.

Broken2018: Thank you! I'm glad you're liking it so far!

BuckyBarnes07: Thank you! It does get exciting in this chapter!

Tony's body is still buzzing as he carries the tracking chip to his lab. He'd gone most of his life thinking he didn't have a soulmate, and then he met Natasha. It wasn't long before he learned she had been lying to him and was actually a sleeper agent for SHIELD that he figured out she was his soulmate. He had wanted to hate her and her stuffy indifference, but after New York and their forced agreement to be on the same team, things had changed. Of course, he had met Banner and Rogers, two more soulmates, one of whom he spent his whole life detesting more than anything. Barton and Thor also came into the picture, only complicating things further. He wasn't exactly one to open up, but then again none of them really were. Except maybe Barton, but Tony knew even he had his secrets still.

They had all mutually agreed to go their separate ways after New York and visit one another occasionally. That had worked until SHIELD fell and HYDRA was revealed to the world. Then they were all forced together again for their own safety, as well as the ease of having everyone close in case something popped up. And it wasn't long after the whole debacle that something did pop up. Their constant raids on HYDRA, both looking to take out the organization and their search for Loki's scepter kept them together and brought them closer and closer. But despite their close proximity for the past few months, they had all felt like something was missing. Some missing piece of the puzzle. Something to hold them all together.

And then Aurora appeared. The last thing Tony had expected when he saw the sixteen-year-old was that she would be his soulmate. First off, she was just so young. He had already graduated from college and become CEO of Stark Industries before she was born. Of course, age wasn't exactly a major player in their little circle of relationships. Steve was technically in his 90s and Thor was older than any of them knew. Romanoff was the youngest out of all of them, but she was at least old enough to vote. Aurora was a kid compared to all of them. A kid who was his soulmate. Not only his but also Bruce's. A damaged and hurt kid.

Tony has JARVIS run diagnostics on the tracking chip while he goes back to flipping through HYDRA's files. Hill had dug up HYDRA's files on Aurora and Tony wanted to learn as much as he could to prepare himself now that he knew he had a deeper connection to her than just saving her life. He had also seen the potential her powers had during her little outburst. HYDRA had said they were tied to her emotions. Acted as a defense mechanism for her. That meant she had almost no control over them. If she decided to stay with the Avengers, he would have to make some adjustments to the fire safety protocols.

Tony sits and reads through the rest of the night, heading down to the kitchen for coffee. Bruce is already down there, making himself some tea.

Tony makes himself his coffee, stirring his sugar in. "We need to tell them."

Bruce gives Tony a look. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"They deserve to know."

"But we don't know for sure yet."

"I know you can feel it. I can too. She might be the one."

Bruce shakes his head. "We don't know for sure. You saw what happened when she got overwhelmed. We can't have them all racing up there and crowding her, wanting to see if it's true. Someone could get hurt, and we could scare her away.

"Then we tell them and we tell them everything. Make sure they don't go and upset her and possibly make her burn the tower down."

Bruce shakes his head, taking a sip of his tea. He knows he can't convince Tony otherwise once he decides on something. "If you're going to tell them, then she deserves to know too."

Tony nods. "Agreed. She seems to like you the best so you can tell her." He steps over to Bruce, wrapping an arm around him. "This will be good. We need something besides just waiting for the next HYDRA base to pop up."

Bruce can't do anything but nod, taking another sip of his tea, both of their attention drawn to the door as Steve comes in. He nods his greeting, going for the coffee pot himself.

"How's the patient?" Steve asks as he pours himself some coffee.

Bruce gives Tony a look and he raises his hands, going over to the table. "She woke up yesterday, but she has a lot of healing left to do."

Steve stands across the kitchen from Bruce. "I want to talk to her as soon as possible."

Bruce shakes his head. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"She mentioned HYDRA. She might know where there's another base, and it would be one close by. One we missed. They could be under our very noses, and that puts her and everyone else in danger."

Bruce shakes his head again. "She showed her powers last night. She's...unstable. Gets overwhelmed easily. If we don't give her time to heal and adjust, then things could get dangerous."

"Things could get dangerous if we don't find out information from her as soon as possible."

"We have to pick the lesser of two evils," Tony says, leaning back in his chair.

"To me, that's her," Steve says, looking at Bruce.

Bruce sighs, his shoulders slumping. He knows he can't win this argument. He knows too it's important for them to make sure Aurora is safe, and they can't do that if HYDRA is hiding under their noses. Better to risk her reacting badly in a somewhat stable environment than having HYDRA attempt to get to her and hurt innocent people in the process. The sooner they could take down HYDRA, the safer everyone will be.

"After breakfast when I take her vitals. I'll see how she's doing and if she's alright then you go and talk to her."

Steve nods. "Thank you, Doctor."

Bruce nods, Thor and Nat joining them in the kitchen. Thor squeezes Bruce's shoulder as he moves past him to get started on breakfast for the team. Steve sits across from Tony at the table, Nat joining them, asking about Aurora. It doesn't take long for Clint to join them, the smell of Thor's pancakes drawing him to the kitchen.

Tony lets everyone eat their breakfast before he decides to break the news to them. He pulls the tracking chip out of his pocket, having put it in a petri dish for the time being. He sets it on the table before standing up, facing the team. They quiet down, looking to him.

"I know everyone has their questions about our guest, and there are some things that have come to light overnight. First, was this." He holds up the tracking chip. "They were tracking her location and had been for quite a long time. I'm having JARVIS run a backward trace on it, seeing if we can't pinpoint where the tracking info is going." He puts the tracking chip back down, taking a moment to breathe. "The second thing is that Bruce and I found out she's our soulmate last night." Everyone shares a look, all wanting to ask the same question. "I know we've all been thinking the same thing and we all want to know the same thing. But, as Bruce and I learned last night, she's overwhelmed easily. She melted through plastic like it was nothing. We can't overwhelm her and risk someone getting hurt. So, for the time being, Bruce and I agree it would be best to leave her alone, except for Steve who wants to see if she knows anything else about HYDRA that we don't already know."

"We have to be careful," Bruce says. "She's unstable, not just in her inexperience with her abilities. HYDRA has had her since she was 10 years old and I don't know all of what they did to her, but she's terrified."

"I'll talk to her. See if I can't get anything out of her." Nat says.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to introduce her to someone else right away," Bruce says.

"I'm the most likely person out of everyone to get something out of her." The five men at the table share the same look. "It's simple psychology. She's been surrounded by HYDRA for six years, and I'm willing to bet most of them were men. She's more likely to respond best to a woman's presence anyways, but, no offense, the likelihood of her getting scared and losing control is higher if she's surrounded by men pushing her to discuss something that's probably horrifically traumatic to her. This needs a woman's touch."

Rory wakes up to the smell of something delicious. It smells sweet and reminds her of home. She cracks her eyes open, finding it's light outside again. She blinks away the sleepiness, turning to find the source of the delicious smells. She's surprised to find a redheaded woman sitting by the bed, next to a stack of pancakes on a bedside table. The woman smiles softly at her, Rory's mouth going dry. The woman was stunningly beautiful but she had a comforting air about her. It had been a long time since Rory had felt truly comforted in the presence of anyone.

"Hi." The woman says, keeping a smile on her face. "I brought you some breakfast in case you were hungry. We didn't know if you liked any addons in your pancakes so Thor left them plain."

Rory nods slowly, eyeing between the woman and the pancakes. She was starving. She can't remember the last time she had a good meal.

"I'm Natasha, but everyone calls me Nat. Go on." Nat pushes the table so its over the bed, close enough that Rory can reach the pancakes. "Eat as much as you want."

Rory eyes her again before cutting into the pancakes. The thought drifts through her mind that they could be drugged or poisoned but she was so hungry and they looked so good she pushes the thought aside, digging in.

"You're Aurora, right?" Nat asks her after a few moments of silence.

"Rory." She swallows a bite of pancake. "I go by Rory."

"It's nice to finally meet you, Rory. You caused quite the stir by your arrival, but we're glad you're here. We've been raiding all the HYDRA bases we can find, trying to keep them from forming back up to the power they were before. We've also been looking for an item that was in SHIELD's control but was taken by HYDRA and could potentially be dangerous."

Rory stares down at her pancakes, feeling like she can trust Nat, but that thought has her bristling a little. She doesn't quite know what to think or feel. She desperately wants to trust Nat, her comforting presence a breath of fresh air compared to everything she'd been through. She wants to let the dam down, spill everything to Nat but she can't shake the feeling that she's being used.

"You can talk to me. I know what it's like. I was taken when I was young too. Taught to be someone else."

"I need to talk to Captain America." Rory picks at her pancakes now, not quite as hungry as she was before.

Nat leans forward, resting her arms on the edge of the bed. "Whatever you need to say to him, you can say to me. I know him well. I've worked with him, trained with him. I'll tell him anything you need to say to him."

Rory looks down, placing her fork down on her plate. She wants to trust her, trust that she really will do what she says. She finds herself spilling everything, telling her about HYDRA, about Bucky, about them running. She doesn't realize she's crying until she finishes, feeling the warm wetness on her face. She sniffles, wiping her face using the scratchy blanket. Her side hurts from the force of her crying, and she takes deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

"It's okay," Nat says, rubbing her shoulder, being careful not to touch her bare skin. "I can't imagine how terrifying it must have been for you. But you made it here. You're safe now. Steve has been looking for Bucky non-stop since SHIELD fell. He'll find him and we'll bring him back here and you can be together again." Rory nods, staying quiet. Nat smiles softly at her. "How about I convince Bruce to let you clean up a little bit. It may only be a sponge bath but maybe you can wash your hair. Would you like that?"

Rory nods. She can't remember the last time she properly washed her hair.

Nat grins. "I'll go track him down. You finish your food."

Rory finishes her pancakes just moments before Nat comes back with a towel and a couple of bottles. Bruce is behind her, and he comes over, starting to disconnect her from all the wires.

"I'll let you take a shower, but be careful not to get the stitches too wet."

Rory nods, taking a moment to stand from the bed. Her side starts to ache again, but she pushes through the pain, letting her body get used to standing again. Bruce helps her over to the bathroom, letting Nat take over once he's sure she's steady. Nat sets the towel and the bottles down on the counter, pulling out a t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants as well.

"You can change into those when you're done. I'll be outside the door in case you need any help."

"Thank you."

Rory waits until the door is closed, feeling weird for being able to shower by herself. She can't remember the last time she did that either. She turns the water on, making sure it's perfect before stripping out of the hospital gown. She avoids looking at herself in the mirror before climbing into the shower. She focuses on washing her hair, using a cloth to clean the areas around her stitches and other wounds. It feels good, being in the warm water and being clean. She had forgotten what it felt like to be taken care of.

She takes care as she leaves the shower, drying herself off before putting on the sweats and t-shirt. They're slightly too big, but they're clean. Rory opens the door, Nat standing outside just like she promised she would. She smiles at Rory, helping her back to the bed. Bruce re-dresses her wounds when she's comfortable, making sure everything is healing properly, before taking his leave again.

Nat holds up a hairbrush, smiling at Rory. "Would you like me to brush your hair?"

Rory nods. "Yes please."

Rory sits up as best as she can, letting Nat run the brush through her hair. It's a tangled mess but Nat is gentle, not pulling her hair like the agents always did. She had been so happy when they'd let her brush her own hair. Nat hums softly as she does it, working all the tangles out before starting to braid it. Rory nearly falls asleep until she feels Nat's fingers brush against her neck, her body tensing up as electricity flows through her. She almost forgets to breathe, Nat's hands stopping what they're doing. The skin along her neck and left shoulder are tingling, her heart rate picking back up again.

"Why do I feel like there's a pattern happening?" Rory asks, taking deep breaths.

Nat quickly finishes the braid. "I think because there is one."

Rory leans back in the bed, Nat taking her seat again. "That's something we wanted to tell you about. All of us, the Avengers, we're all soulmates. But we've felt like there was someone else that was supposed to be with us. And then you appeared."

Rory looks down at her lap. "And I already know Bruce and Tony are my soulmates, and now you."

"We think you may be Steve, Clint and Thor's soulmate as well. But we were supposed to hold off on touching you so we didn't overwhelm you."

Rory nods. "Okay. I...I don't really know what to say."

Nat smiles at her softly. "It's okay. You don't have to say anything."

They lapse into silence for a while, Rory playing with her fingers, trying to get the courage to ask Nat to see Steve. She wanted to talk to him and she knew he'd want to know about HYDRA.

"Nat?" She asks, finally breaking the silence.

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I want to talk to Steve."

Nat sits forward in her chair. "I'm not sure if that's a good idea right now."

"I want to talk to him about Bucky."

Nat takes a deep breath in, looking at Rory's face for a few moments before nodding. "Alright. I'll go get him."